Orchard: One Street Behind
4 June 2021
Think of Orchard Road as an arterial line, now more symbolic, now less essential. Maybe it is now merely the idea of an artery.
The facade of Grand Hyatt Hotel
For many years, its success represented Singapore’s success as a tourist destination. But the pandemic, the rise of online shopping and a general lack of renewal along Singapore’s once iconic shopping belt has turned it into a window-shopping boulevard. A place to stroll, to gaze, to be seen more than to see.
Walking along the tree-lined path towards Cuscaden Road.
But what, perhaps, is more interesting are the streets and scenes behind Orchard Road. The backroads, or as writer and walker Craig Mod calls them, the ‘ippon-ura,’ are the lesser, often more unsightly bits, the less photographed sightlines just off the main throughfare.
Roadworks along Nutmeg Road, behind Lucky Plaza
But on days where light is strong and people are sparse, there is time to stop, to observe the easily side-stepped. To pause and look up, look about.
There was time too to dip inside a couple of older malls. Orchard Towers, that den of ill repute felt sad and befuddled. Doors were shuttered and locked, the only places open were food outlets and footsie massage parlours. Yet, the place still deigned to smell of smoke.
A shuttered bar in Orchard Towers
Business is slow for restaurants and close to non-existent for hair salons in Orchard Towers.
Paragon remains a paragon of overpriced, lux items, contrasted by patrons in ‘anyhow’ wear, because fashion seems to lose its function in a pandemic.
Style is, indeed, a subjective notion
